Source: Uk.prweb.comPress Release The Project for the Application of Law for Fauna (PALF) in the Republic of Congo has today announced one of their most significant operations against the illegal ivory trade. This week, an incredible total of four ivory operations supported by PALF (a collaborative organisation between The Aspinall Foundation, a UK based charity, The Congolese Ministry of Forest Economy and Sustainable Development and the Wildlife Conservation Society), have resulted in the arrests of eight people in these illegal wildlife trafficking groups - whilst more arrests are set to continue. This is one of the most successful hauls of illegal trafficking criminals that PALF and The Aspinall Foundation have been involved in. The major haul started with an enormous elephant tusk seized by PALF and a consortium of NGO’s in the Republic of Congo. Another of the ivory hauls from a dealer in an international trafficking network included a sack full of sculpted ivory. Early on the 30th November, another dealer with sculpted ivory was arrested and most incredibly and later that afternoon, a 32-year-old Chinese national attempted to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight with ivory jewellery after bribing 60.000 FCFA (about $125 USD) to get it through to via ‘a fixer’ said Natafali Honig. Naftali Honig, PALF Co-ordinator explained: “We acted fast on the tip-off about this Ethiopian Airlines passenger and within minutes his hand luggage was searched, we found nothing. Then after I tried to ask him about the ivory, we suspected that the illegal haul was in his checked luggage, which was at that time being loaded onto the plane. The rest of the passengers had already boarded the plane whilst we continued to question the passenger.” After holding up the flight to find the unnamed passenger’s luggage, authorities were able to confirm that there was in fact a suitcase full of ivory on board the plane. A team of people from Eaux et Forêts working at Maya Maya Airport in Brazaville, the Departmental Director of the Lusaka Agreement Task Force and the National Gendarmerie ended up arresting the Chinese national and the person who facilitated the passage of his luggage for money. This week has been a phenomenal success for the Congolese Ministry of Forest Economy and Sustainable Development and especially for the Gendarmerie Nationale, whose tirelessness throughout the week made this huge operation possible. These seizes were conducted all over Brazzaville, in the morning, in the middle of the day and at night. Naftali Honig, the PALF Co-ordinator explained: “These are not easy cases – corruption attempts are rife and I was particularly moved when one Gendarme asked me and the PALF legal team to work extra hard to assure that these criminals are prosecuted and put into jail so that their hard work was not for nothing.” More....

The wave of poaching devastating central Africa's forest elephant population may see some relief with a new agreement forged by the governments of Gabon and the Central African Republic (CAR) to improve management of CAR's wildlife resources. The agreement comes after some two dozen elephants were brutally slaughtered at a CAR protected area in early May. The killings took place at Dzanga Bai, a well-known forest clearing in Dzanga-Sangha National Park, which is part of the Sangha Trinational World Heritage Site. These elephants have become the target of criminal gangs, who increasingly trade in blood ivory to fund violent campaigns of political destabilization across the Sahel.

The Wildlife Conservation Society wishes to recognize the outstanding leadership of Gabon president Ali Bongo Ondimba and Michel Djotodia, acting president of the CAR transitional government, in confronting this urgent wildlife emergency and restoring security to Dzanga Bai. The resolution to this crisis could never have been achieved without the dedicated and heroic efforts of a team of conservationists led by Mike Fay. Fay, a Senior Conservationist with WCS, an Explorer in Residence with the National Geographic Society, and a Senior Adviser to the President of Gabon, has dedicated a good part of his working life to the study and protection of wildlife in Central Africa.

Working with Lee White of the Gabon National Parks Agency, Bas Huijbregts of WWF International, and Richard Ruggiero of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fay helped facilitate discussions between presidents Bongo and Djotodia to secure the elephants of Dzanga and all of CAR's parks. At the same time colleagues from the Last Great Ape Association (LAGA) began discussions with the current military authorities in Bayanga, near Dzanga Bai. More....

Two of the world’s leading breeding centres for the black rhino run by the Aspinall Foundation in the UK have been given specific warnings this weekend that their breeding centres at Port Lympne and Howletts Wild Animal Parks in Kent are being targeted by rhino poachers. The parks are now appealing for volunteers to help the centres maintain security at the rhino enclosures and they are asking visitors to the parks to report any suspicious activity immediately to park staff. The Aspinall Foundation is the most successful breeder of black rhino in the world. In the last seven years, the Foundation’s unique animal husbandry has seen the successful births of 33 black rhino, in captivity. The Aspinall Foundation’s rhino are kept in the relative freedom of hundreds of acres of Kent countryside and are currently part of the Foundation’s Back To The Wild programme.Damian Aspinall said: “It is tragic and beyond belief that, as we do everything possible to restore these magnificent animals safely to the wild, the human traders who seek to profit from their slaughter should bring their vile activities to the UK.“In the light of what Kent police have told us is a genuine threat, we will do everything to protect our herds. Our volunteers will be recruited responsibly after careful vetting.Their presence will enable us to be vigilant and alert at every point at which the rhino could possibly come under threat.“We would also ask that visitors to Howletts and Port Lympne report any suspicious behaviour to staff and volunteers.” If the threat proves to be valid then this would be a major step up in poaching in the UK where endangered species are concerned. Private collectors and museums that have trophy horns and heads have been targeted in the past for their horns but this will be the first time – to my knowledge – that a real threat has been identified to living rhinos in the UK. The threat also highlights how rhino poaching is a truly international trade and the value of rhino horn means that no rhino is truly safe even when held in captivity in a relatively safe and secure country. Lets hope the threat does not turn into reality. Let’s also hope the government realise the value in providing long-term and secure funding to the National Wildlife Crime Unit.

By Alexandra WexlerA long-dormant threat to Africa's elephant population is back with a vengeance, thanks to rising demand for ivory from newly affluent Chinese consumers.Reflecting this demand, ivory prices in China have soared to as high as US$7,000 a kilogram in 2011 from US$157 a kilo in 2008, according to the Environmental Investigation Agency, a nongovernmental organization based in London. Estimates from other researchers and NGOs put ivory prices in China as low as US$300 to US$750 a kilo, which nevertheless reflects at least a 100% increase in price over three years.Official data on the extent of the ivory trade are difficult to come by, as much of the trade is illegal. From 2009 to June 2011, mainland China and Hong Kong seized more than 6,500 kilograms of illegal ivory in four large shipments, according to a report released by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or Cites."China has overtaken Japan as the world's largest consumer market for illegal ivory products," the Cites report said.Malaysian authorities this month confiscated nearly 700 African elephant tusks destined for China from Tanzania, the third seizure of illegal ivory since July, officials and wildlife activists said, according to the Associated Press. A week earlier, Hong Kong authorities had seized $1.6 million in African ivory from a container that arrived by sea from Malaysia.In China, sales have been driven by ivory's appeal as a traditional symbol of wealth and status. "Lately, we've had a lot of mainland Chinese customers," said Alice Chan, sales manager at Exquisite Crafts, an antique shop in Hong Kong filled with figurines carved from both elephant and mammoth ivory, including two enormous carved tusks on display in the shop window. "They're rich now."Mammoth ivory is legal to import and export from Hong Kong, but Ms. Chan says that the Chinese typically want elephant ivory, which is considered of higher quality. Cites says almost all of the current demand for elephant ivory comes from the Chinese market, including Hong Kong and Macau. The Geneva-based Cites is an international agreement among 175 governments, including the U.S. and China, that aims to ensure that international trade in wild animals and plants doesn't threaten their survival.Outlets that legally sell elephant ivory from old stocks in China are supposed to be licensed and monitored by the government, with certificates accompanying all legal ivory. Taking ivory out of China or importing it into most other countries, including the U.S., is illegal. More....